2013 Resolution: Read More!

I'm what you might call a binge reader.  I received Gillian Flynn's three books for Christmas:  Sharp Objects, Dark Places, and Gone Girl.  I read the first two in two days.  I am obsessed with them!  They are apparently both being made into movies.  The only person rumored to be cast so far is Amy Adams in Dark Places as Libby which I think is a good choice (although I see her more as the mother).

The third is Gone Girl.  Hmm.  I guess people really love it.  I tried to love it.  I do love her writing style, but I just can't get into it.  The thing that I love about her other characters are that most of them come up short on morals, but you root for them.  She somehow makes even the worst characters display a glimmer of likeability (albeit many times faint).  But with Gone Girl, I don't like or really care about anybody.  I don't like Nick.  I don't like Amy.  I don't like Margo.  I find them boring and kinda nutty with no good reason for being nutty.  Plus, Reese Witherspoon is going to be starring in and producing the film version which kinda makes me say ICK (even though I don't hate her, but I can't see it being good).

Anyway, I don't think I can finish it, but I'll probably read ahead to see how it ends. 

Any good book recommendations for me?  Anybody else read these books and love them?

New Moon Hangover CAUTION SPOILERS!!!

Soooooooooooooooooooooooo I've been. Twice now. Probably will see it at least a few more times in the theater. If you have NOT seen the movie yet, you may not want to read any further. But if you have, I am curious to see what you thought.

Here are my thoughts:

*I absolutely love the soundtrack, and I was happy with all the song placement. A couple of my friends and I even predicted where songs would go, and I got a few right. That sounded wayyy less pathetic in my head.

*Loved the opening scene with Bella's "grandmother".

*Loved Jasper's reaction to the paper cut and how he just kept busting through everyone to get to her. Sometimes, you forget that they are vamps and that they are bloodthirsty.

*Something little that I loved-- when Carlisle was stitching Bella's arm up, and she was resting her hand on his waist. I don't know why I liked it, just thought it was endearing and kind of showed a closeness between the two. Is that weird?

*I thought both Edward and Bella looked absolutely beautiful in the movie. Loved the kissing scene outside her truck and the desperation of it and a little bit of moaning never hurts (sigh).

*Love Movie Jacob way better than Book Jacob. In fact, when I re-read New Moon before seeing it, I actually liked Book Jacob better because I was picturing Taylor.

*Kristen really didn't annoy me at all (no sputtering!) in New Moon which is funny because she's totally getting ripped apart in reviews and Taylor's reaping the accolades. Because, and don't hate me...

*I thought Taylor's acting was pretttttttttttty bad. Still liked Movie Jacob, still like Taylor, but there were some lines that made me cringe. There was one really bad one when Jacob is yelling at Alice, and now I can't remember, but it was realllly lame.

*Where were the damn tears?????? Like seriously, can't these damn actors cry on cue? Or couldn't they have stopped the cameras and given them some eye drops or something? Bella didn't REALLY cry once and neither did Jacob. Or Edward for that matter. Fishy.

*My favorite scene may very well have been the one in the forest when the wolves were chasing Victoria. The Thom Yorke song in the back may be one of my faves now. I am going to miss Rachelle LeFevre in Eclipse. :(

*Wishing they played the music in the trailer for the running through the palazzo scene at the end (played here around 1:33). Way more dramatic!



*Of course, and it seems most people would agree, Alice's flash forward of Bella and Edward hunting in the forest was so dreadful. Yeesh. Whuuuut was up with Edward's clothing? Or hers for that matter?

*And did anyone else notice that it seemed Edward had on the SAME clothing that he did when he left Bella? Like 4 or 5 months later? Well, sans the suit jacket, but that was a little grody. Until my friend reminded me vampires probably have body odor that smells like lilac and honey. HA.

*One of my favorite scenes from the book was when Bella finally realized that Edward still loved her. It didn't work for me in the movie-- too rushed and it was supposed to be AFTER they left the Volturi lair. Felt kind of cheated just as I felt cheated with the meadow scene in Twilight!

*Bummed they cut out any good shots of the cake!!! And a whole couple lines about the cake in general. It was the piece de resistance at my Twilight party. Oh well. It was still a good schtick I suppose.


Anyway, already getting some ideas for my inevitable New Moon partay. It's going to be tough to top the first, but I'm up for a challenge. Definitely making some wolf pack tats and probably a dream catcher or two!!!

So I'm curious to see what any of you think. My husband is glad this is all over. For now anyway...he just rolled his eyes when I told him the opening of Eclipse was just over 7 months away. Yippee! xo

That Sounds About Right

So typical Monday. I get home, I'm tired and crabby. I feel like I live in squalor. Everything is in chaos. Quinn eats her dinner (crab quiche and grape tomatoes) and Ryan gives her a few orange segments-- she starts choking on a piece because she takes WAY too big of bites...and she pukes all over me as I'm eating my dinner. Lovely. All night long I got to hear, "Sorry I puked on your pants, Mommy."

I started making some glitter houses like last year's. Glad Amy nudged me in the right direction because my heart wasn't into it. Until tonight! I like this one, and I do think it looks better in person, but I'm wondering if it's too plain or too gaudy. I like that perfect mix, ya know? I owe the color combo to Sweet Jessie. And the little girl in the doorway came from some wrapping paper she sent me last Xmas-- I printed it on vellum. It looks cute with a little flicker LED light inside. I couldn't get a good pic of it with the lights off though. I feel like there should be something around the windows, but I don't want to overdo it. The windows are also vellum that let the light through and they do look less plain in person.

So I'll have two like this one at DUCF, two like the last year's, and one medium size that I'm not sure of the color combo yet. Maybe a red house with a white roof? Seems so crazy to be talking about Xmas since we haven't even seen Halloween yet!

Speaking of, we took the girls to Boo at the Zoo this weekend. We were hemming and hawing up until the very last second. Stopped at Pronto for some booze to warm our cockles (um, us, not the girls) and then proceeded to the zoo. Quinn decided she liked saying, "Here you go" instead of "Trick or Treat". Priceless. Vivian was just all around pissed. We had a snowsuit for her with ears on it as her costume was being altered, but she wasn't having it. So Ryan zipped her up in his jacket, poor baby.

Hope everyone survived their respective Monday. When you get puked on, the week can only improve, don't you agree?

One more thing-- I have a new term here in Girl Land bloggy world, COO (= Currently Obsessing Over). Today I'm COO the upcoming Twilight soundtrack. I thought I was too old to appreciate Paramore, but then I read the lead singer is 34 (Older than me! Yay!), and their song, Decode, is super catchy. I will be buying the soundtrack on November 4 after I cast my vote (EEK). Another nifty draw is that I read today that Robert Pattinson's voice (he sings a song on it) is like a young Jeff Buckley's. SOLD! Actually, I think the latter's songs Everybody Here Wants You or New Year's Prayer would have been lovely and fitting for the soundtrack. Or Fiona Apple's The First Taste. I told you...COO emphasis on the first O.